Duncan and the Student Advocacy Club: Help is on the Way!
by Nyhlus
Summary: Duncan is forced to join a club after setting fire to the school grounds. Reluctantly, he becomes the third member of the Student Advocacy Club along with Noah and Courtney. The club helps fellow students no matter their issues. After helping Zoey perform at the talent show, Dakota asks for help to get a date with Sam. If only it was as simple as it sounds!
1. Last Chance, New Beginnings: Part 1

Duncan and the Student Advocacy Club: Help is on the Way!

 **Chapter 1**

"Duncan, please sit down," Chris said, pointing to the chair on the opposite side of his desk. Chris' office was small. An ugly brown desk took up most of the room. Piles of loose paper were scattered over top of it. A small window peered down on the school grounds. The ceiling fan creaked as it struggled to spin.

Duncan tossed his bag onto the ground, took a seat, and leaned back in the chair. His white dress shirt was untidy. The sleeves were rolled up. He wore the black tie loosened around the neck.

Chris watched Duncan closely. Chris looked to be in his mid thirties. He wore a checkered dress shirt under a tweed blazer with elbow patches. Stubble covered his square chin and his medium brown hair was styled to look messy. Chris shook his head at the sight of Duncan's green mohawk. "You know they have a policy here about dying hair unnatural colours." Chris informed Duncan.

"You know I have a policy of not giving a fuck," Duncan retorted.

Chris pressed his fingers onto his left temple. "Duncan what am I going to do with you?"

"Nothing and let me go?" Duncan spoke. "Come on."

"Yeah, no. Unfortunately we are past that now. You've got too many obstructions on your record to let me do that: skipping class, getting into fights, talking back to authority figures and now setting fire to the campus lawn. I mean, seriously?"

"It was supposed to send a message."

"What?"

"The fire. It was supposed to spell out words. I just didn't have time to finish it."

"Could you possibly be more stupid?" Chris asked. There was not a hint of joking in his voice. "You're lucky the administration hasn't kicked you out and I guarantee you that your father and his sizeable donations have played a role in that decision."

Duncan rolled his eyes at the mention of his father. "Tell me something I don't already know."

"Alright, well for starters, you've basically been given one final chance. Get caught doing something stupid like that again and you're gone. On top of that, as your home room teacher and assigned 'mentor'" Chis made air quotes when saying the word mentor. "I have been tasked with helping keep you out of trouble and allow you to give back to this fine establishment."

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like what you're about to say?" Duncan asked hesitantly.

"I'm mandating you to join a school club."

"Goddamn it." Duncan cursed.

"Do you have any preference? The computer club is very popular right now. Have any interest in anime? I think you'd get along nicely with the anime club's current president Harold."

Duncan shook his head. "How about you sign me up for the go fuck yourself McLean club."

"Somehow I had a feeling you might be hesitant. Good thing I already signed you up for one."

"And what is it?" Duncan asked. "If you say the mathletes I am jumping out that window." Duncan pointed at the small window behind Chris' shoulder.

"The Student Advocacy Club." Chris spoke. "Their new president has been begging me to find her some new members, so I think this will be beneficial for all of us."

"What the fuck is the Student Advocacy Club? What kind of shit do they do?" Duncan asked.

"How about you go give them a visit and find out. They have the club room 303."

"You have no idea, do you?"

"I have no idea." Chris admitted. Chris stood up from his desk. "Well Duncan, I can hardly call it a pleasure meeting with you. But my office door is always open, so you can always drop by if you need something. Or you can ignore that piece of information, I honestly don't care. Hell, I might even prefer it. Now if you'll excuse yourself I have some real work to do. Oh and when I said to visit their club room, I wasn't asking. I'll be keeping regular tabs so don't try to fight it. Otherwise I'm sure the mathletes could use a new teammate."

Duncan did not need to be told twice. He got up immediately from the chair and walked out of the office. He shook his head as walked through the administration building's empty halls. It was mostly abandoned in the afternoon after school hours. No one wanted to be there, even the teachers.

Outside, Duncan walked past the main building of Wawanakwa Academy. It was an old red brick building five stories high. It stretch out in a single line, with a tall bell tower in the middle of it. The administration building sat before it on the grounds. Behind the school, the clubs building was tucked away across a small field. It was made of the same brick as the main building, but it had noticeably worse upkeep. It sat in contrast with the sleek ultra modern sports complex next to it. On the other side of the sports complex, the two identical dorms sat next to each other: one for the boys and one for the girls.

Duncan walked right up to the club building. He looked it over. He had never actually stepped foot in it for the entirety of his three years at the Academy. It was part of a mandatory tour of the campus for freshmen but Duncan had skipped it, just like he'd skipped every school related event that wasn't class. And for living in the dorms, his class attendance record wasn't great either.

The halls of the clubs building were nearly identical with the halls of the main building, except for the lack of lockers. It took him a second to find the stairs. He climbed up to the third floor and began to look for the room. Each door had a sign above it with the name of the club written out. He passed by the Astronomy Club, the Orienteering Club, and the Literature Club. Duncan shook his head at each one he passed. They all looked so pathetic to him. Finally he came upon room 303. The sign looked like it had been crossed out. Duncan peered through the small window on the door and saw only one guy in the room.

Duncan opened the door and walked in. The room was about a quarter the size of a regular class room. There was one big table in the middle of it able to fit six chairs. A couch sat under the large window at the back of the room. A wooden cabinet rested against the left wall. Opposite to the cabinet was a table with a coffee maker, stereo, electric kettle, a couple of mugs on it. Otherwise the room was completely bare. The stereo played a Radiohead album.

The guy sat at the table with his head down. "Hey," Duncan greeted him.

He looked up. "So you're the new guy?" He had straight medium brown hair. He wore a white shirt with a black tie and a black pullover sweater over top.

"Yeah," Duncan said.

"Great." He moaned before putting his head back down on the desk.

Duncan grabbed a chair and sat opposite the guy across the table. "Where's the rest of the club?" he asked.

The guy perked up in his chair. "The Student Advocacy Club has a complicated structure. It consists of three committees that work in unison. There's the policy and research Committee that meets once every two weeks to discuss school policies and to draft submissions. There's the Public Awareness Committee that's in charge of publicity, marketing, and communicating with the larger student body. They meet in the library every Thursday at lunch. Then there's the Advocacy Committee that does the majority of the communication with the school administration and the student council, while also making sure the Club speaks with a unified voice. As a member of the club, you will be expected to sit on two of the committees.

"Really?"

"No. Fuck no. Seriously Duncan. Are you retarded or something?" He asked. Duncan did not say anything. "What you see is what you get," the guy said extending his arms. "There's me, Courtney and you, apparently."

"Wait, how do you know my name?" Duncan asked.

The guy stared at Duncan for a second to make sure he was serious. "Duncan, I live four doors down from you."

Duncan took another look at the guy and saw that he did recognize him. "Noel?"

"Noah."

"Sorry. I never cared to learn the names of all random dweebs living around me." Duncan shrugged.

"Fair enough. I never cared either. Although I did care to learn the name of the asshole who starts blasting Black Flag at two in the morning. Plus, it's hard not to know your name after that stunt you just pulled," Noah shot back at him.

"People know about that?"

"You literally set the lawn in front of the girls' dorm on fire. Half of the student body were witnesses. How could people not know about it? That girl you were trying to impress had better been worth it."

"I wasn't trying to impress a girl," Duncan made clear.

"Sure. You set fire to the lawn in front of the girl's dorm, spelling out the letter G, which I can only assume was the beginning of someone's name. It's not that hard to grasp. What else could you have been doing? Hell, I'm sure if I actually cared, it wouldn't take too long to figure out who you were doing it for. There's only so many names starting with the letter 'G'."

Duncan grunted. "Whatever. So what exactly do you do here then?" He asked, trying to change the conversation.

"On paper, we're supposed to help students. That's it."

"Who'd come to you for help?" Duncan asked.

"No one. And that's precisely the point. Look, here's the deal. We don't 'do' stuff. The purpose of the Student Advocacy Club is to look good on a college application. I intend to keep it that way. Got it? I usually sit around, pretend to work, and listen to records. So long as no one comes knocking, then we're fine."

Duncan leaned back in his chair. "I could get used to that."

"There is one problem."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Courtney."

"Who's that?" Duncan asked.

"Seriously? She sat in front of you all year in geography when we were freshmen," Noah said. Duncan stared blankly at him, clearly with no idea who he was referring to. "Look," Noah tried to clarify, "remember the girl last year who ran for student council president? The one who lost to Heather?"

"Hell yeah I do!" Duncan remarked jovially. "Shit. How could you forget that? Heather reading her love poems during the morning announcements was classic! I still quote them occasionally: 'Your face is like a polished mirror'. Ha!" He laughed out loud.

"Right. Hilarious," Noah said deadpan. "She's Courtney. She's also the president of this club. After that whole ordeal, she was so embarrassed that she quit the student council altogether over it. She joined this club to start fresh, and is hell bent on turning it into a legitimate group. I'm sure the only reason Chris signed you up for this club is to stop her from calling him at home every night demanding he help us recruit new members."

"She sounds obsessive," Duncan noted.

"You have no idea," Noah said.

"How'd you join this group?"

"I started it."

"Really?"

"Well, more accurately: I resurrected it. When I was a freshman, I volunteered at the library, hoping it would both look good on a college application and involve the least interaction with other people. Unfortunately, I forgot that the only people who hang out in high school libraries are obnoxious jerk offs. So, one day in my spare time, I went through the old year books till I found an old dead club with an important sounding name. It's the perfect scam: on one hand I can claim to have been a member of a club with a hundred year old history, and at the same time claim that I took the initiative to start my own club."

"Sounds like a lot of effort to me," Duncan commented.

"It was, but it was worth it. For most of last year I had this whole clubroom to myself. I could do work with no one disturbing me. I forged the signatures of the required five members, so no one else would bother me. It would have been perfect, if I didn't screw up and tell Courtney about it."

"You precious thing," Duncan said with mock sympathy,

Noah shrugged. "Whatever. Do whatever you want, just don't disturb me." Noah rested his head back on the table. "And don't think of changing the music."

Duncan nodded. He leaned his back on his chair, resting his feet on the table.

The door to the clubroom opened. A girl walked in with medium length hair and freckles on her nose. She wore a green blazer with the school crest sown on it, with a white dress shirt and a black kilt. "Duncan!" she announced, her face lit up as she noticed him in the room. "Glad to see you've decided to join us."

"Not sure if I actually 'decided' to join you. I think saying I was 'forced' or 'sentenced' to join you would be a bit more accurate." Duncan remarked.

Courtney continued to smile, unphased by his attitude. She walked right up to him, and extended her arm to shake his hand. Duncan stared at her for a moment, before tepidly shaking it with a weak grip. "We're really excited to have you join us," she said.

"You sure? He doesn't look too enthused," Duncan pointed at Noah, whose head continued to rest on the table.

"Noah just shows his enthusiasm in different ways than most. You should be proud. You are officially the third member of the Student Advocacy Club."

"Great," Duncan said flatly.

Courtney leaned into Duncan, her face only a couple of inches away from his. "Look shithead. I don't give a fuck about your cooler than everyone else attitude. I'm not super happy about our only recruit being a delinquent with a tendency towards arson. But we are all going to have to make the best of it. So long as you show up to all of the regular meetings and actually help people according to our mandate, I'll tell McLean whatever you want him to hear. If you don't, or if you keep whining incessantly, then I will report your ass on the first thing I see. Got it?"

Duncan sat silent, watching her face for a moment. Her fierce glare pierced through his defenses. "Alright. Shit." He said, raising his hands in the air. "And what do you even mean by help people?"

"Well," Courtney paused, "I'm not entirely sure. We haven't actually had a student ask for our services yet. I imagine when it does happen, we'll do whatever they ask us to."

"Whatever they ask us to? What if they ask us to do something ridiculous?"

"We'll figure that out on a case-by-case basis."

"This doesn't sound very well thought out."

Courtney placed her hands on her hips. "Well, shit Duncan, not everything's perfect. Who knows what the future will bring?"

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Duncan asked.

"We wait," she informed him. Courtney stepped over to the counter and picked up the electric kettle. "Want some tea?"

"I'm fine," Duncan replied.

"Noah?"

"Whatever," Noah mumbled without raising his head.

"Great," Courtney said in a perky voice. She smiled at Duncan briefly, before heading out the door to go fill it with water. Duncan watched her move closely, unable to take his eyes off her, trying desperately to comprehend his new reality.

 _Afterword:_

 _We hope you liked this chapter. We had fun writing it. This is our first story after finishing Pillars of Destiny, so we wanted to try something a little different. Let us know what you think._

 _Please leave a review_ _._

 _Till Next Time -Nyhlus and BJ_


	2. Last Chance, New Beginnings: Part 2

**Chapter 2**

Duncan leaned against the brick wall at the smoke spot, a cigarette dangling between his lips. The smoke spot was located at the back of the sports building. It was tucked in by a loading dock for equipment. The official rule stated that the students could not smoke in sight of the main building. Leaning on the wall, Gwen and Trent sat together. Their arms were entangled. Gwen leaned on Trent's chest. Trent's guitar case laid next to him. Duncan stared off into the distance, making sure not to look at them.

"What have you been up to man?" Trent asked. His hair was styled up. He wore the white dress shirt of the uniform unbuttoned with a Nirvana shirt underneath it. "I haven't seen you around much this week."

Duncan shrugged his shoulders. "Discipline. They've been on my ass since setting the lawn on fire. It's like they've never seen a light before. Not only do I have detention, they've made me join a club. Mandatory. Or else they'll kick me out of the school."

"Bummer," Trent said.

"Yeah. It blows. They report on everything I do too, like a narc. If I wasn't on my last straw, I'd tell them to go fuck themselves."

"What a bunch of assholes," Trent added.

"What did you expect Duncan? You nearly set fire to the girls' dorm. I mean, what the fuck? It's a miracle you weren't expelled," Gwen said. Her blue and black hair was cut shoulder length. She wore a black choker and doc martins with the white dress shirt and the black kilt of the uniform. "Your father has a lot of influence, but he's not a miracle worker. What were you even trying to prove?"

Duncan turned to stare at her for a second. She stared back with concerned eyes. He quickly looked away, exhaling from his cigarette. "Nothing," he insisted. "I was bored. I thought it would look cool. Maybe show the administration that I won't take any of their shit. Maybe test just how far my father's influence goes."

"A little excessive but I get it," Trent agreed, nodding his head.

"Bullshit," Gwen challenged. "You expect me to believe that? You just woke up one day and thought 'hey I wonder what they'd do to me if I set the lawn on fire?' If you were actually hoping to stick it to the man, you could have done a hundred other things, like light up a joint in front of the school or do a sit in or something. This was a whole new extreme for you and I don't get it. I thought I knew you better."

"I, uh," Duncan hesitated to respond. He looked at the watch around his right wrist. "Oh shit." He tossed his cigarette onto the ground and stomped it out. "I'm late for a club meeting. They'll have my head if I don't show. I'll see you two later." He gave them a slight wave, as he headed off.

"Fuck the system!" Trent called out to him as he left.

"Fuck the system," Duncan repeated. He raised his fist into the air.

Gwen shook her head.

Duncan cut through the field towards the club building. Next to the entrance, Harold stood with a number of flyers in his hand. Harold was tall with reddish hair. He wore thick rimmed glasses and a Sword Art Online t-shirt over the dress shirt of the school uniform. As Duncan approached, Harold pressed a flyer into Duncan's hands. "The, uh, anime club is watching Sket Dance in our clubroom this Saturday. You're invited."

Duncan stopped. He looked down at the flyer. It consisted of a picture with a number of animated teens standing in exaggerated poses. "That sounds fucking stupid," Duncan said. He crumbled up the paper in his hand and threw it back at Harold. He pushed his way forcefully through the entrance.

He checked his watch when he arrived at the Student Advocacy Club's door. He took a deep breath, before stepping into the room.

"You're late," Courtney informed him.

"Yeah. Whatever," Duncan said. He tossed his school bag to the side. Courtney stood next to the table in the middle of the room. Her arms were crossed over her chest. Noah had his head down, humming to himself quietly. Duncan walked past Courtney and took the seat next to Noah.

"Don't try your luck, pal. Remember who has the power here," Courtney said. She took the seat opposite the others and pulled out a clipboard from her bag. "Now that we're all here, we can start the meeting." Duncan leaned back in his chair slightly, kicking his feet up on the table. Courtney looked at him disapprovingly, but continued. "First order of business is attendance. Let's make sure we're all here. Please say present if your name is called. Duncan?"

"What?" Duncan asked. Courtney was silent. Her eyes narrowed. "Why do you even need to take attendance? You can see that we're all here. There's only three of us." Courtney did not respond. Her hawkish eyes continued to peer at him. Duncan finally let out a sigh. "Present."

"Great," Courtney smiled, perking up slightly. "Noah?"

"Present," he said. He turned towards Duncan. "She used to do this when there was only two of us as well."

"And Courtney?" Courtney asked. She waited for a second to respond. Duncan stared at her in bewilderment. "Present!" she finally announced, smiling smugly at herself. She flipped the page on the clipboard. "Alright. Next is the amendments to the club's constitution. I'm sure you both reviewed the sheet of paper with the proposed changes I stuffed into your lockers this morning."

"That was what that was? I tossed it thinking it might be from one of the dweeb clubs," Duncan admitted.

"I haven't opened my locker in weeks." Noah said.

"Alright well, no objections to the amendments then?" Duncan and Noah remained silent. "Good." Courtney knocked on the table. "Amendments passed. Let's move on. Next order of business is welcoming our new member Duncan." Courtney placed her clipboard on the table and clapped her hands. Noah tapped his finger gingerly. "Would you like to say any words?"

"Is this really necessary?" Duncan questioned.

"It's on the agenda, so yes." Courtney made clear. "Just say some words."

"Right. Fine. I do not want to be here. I would not be here if I was not being forced. I do not like either of you. I think this club is stupid. Good enough for you?"

"Elegantly put," Courtney said sarcastically. "Next on the agenda is individual reporting. How has everyone been at helping individuals around the school? Noah?"

"Nothing to report," he said.

"Duncan?"

"Well," Duncan thought for a moment. "I sold Geoff a dimebag yesterday."

"Dealing weed does not count as official club activities."

"Ah. Well. Nothing to report then. Other than throwing a flyer at Harold's face a couple minutes ago."

Courtney let out a sigh. "Wonderful."

"What about you?" Duncan asked.

Courtney frowned. She turned her head away from the others. Under her breath, she whispered: "nothing to report." Turning her head sharply, she refocused on her clipboard. "Let's move onto the next item. Marketing. Now that we've finally recruited a new member, I feel that marketing should be our next focus. We'll never have people come here if they do not know that we exist. We need to make people aware of our services and where to find us."

Noah raised his head for the first time during the meeting. "I want it officially on the record that I am opposed to any marketing or people finding us. As the original founder of the club, it was my intent for us never to be discovered."

Courtney scribbled on her clipboard. "Your objection has been added to the minutes and ignored."

Duncan looked at Noah then Courtney. "Is there something wrong with you two?"

"Moving forward, I want us to approve a flyer that we can hand out to the students at this school." Courtney grabbed her bag from under the table, opened it, and placed a piece of paper before Duncan and Noah. On the paper was a picture of a kitten holding onto a branch with the words 'Hang in there baby!' written across it. In the bottom right corner, the name Student Advocacy Club and Clubroom 303 was written in pen. "What do you two think?"

"It looks awful," Duncan commented.

"How are people supposed to learn anything about us from it?" Noah asked her.

"Isn't it obvious? We're the branch that supports them, and the students looking for help are the kittens."

"No." Noah said clearly. "It is not obvious. No one's going to get that. Did you just google inspirational pictures?"

Courtney crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll have you know it was a very involved process. How about we vote on it then? All in favor?" Courtney raised her hand. Noah and Duncan stayed still. "All opposed?" Noah and Duncan's arms both shot up. "Well, good thing one of those amendments to the constitution we just approved gives me complete executive discretion in all decisions."

"What?" Duncan asked.

"I have the final say, and we are using these flyers. Besides, I've already printed out like 200 of them. Tomorrow morning we will be handing these out on the front lawn. Are we clear?"

Noah just grunted and put his head back down onto the table.

"Crystal." Duncan said. He kicked up his feet and leaned back in his chair.

"Oh and Duncan?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't be late."

 _Afterword:_

 _We hope you enjoyed this chapter. We've had fun writing this story so far. If you like this story check out our new one featuring the Ridonculous Race cast called: Snow Dreams_

 _Please leave a review._

 _Till Next Time -Nyhlus and BJ_


	3. Last Chance, New Beginnings: Part 3

**Chapter 3**

Duncan stood with his hands firmly planted in his leather jacket's pockets. He leaned his back on the wall next to the school entrance. He wore sunglasses to cover his eyes from the bright morning sun. Noah sat against the wall next to him. His eyes were focused on his copy of Anna Karenina open on his lap. A constant channel of students passed by them on their way into the red brick school.

Before them, Courtney held onto a large stack of flyers. Desperately, she tried hand one to each of the incoming students. Most ignored her or flatly refused to take one. Nevertheless, Courtney remained astute; she made sure she offered one to every student passing by her.

"You know," she said, continuing to offer the flyers out. "This would be easier if you two helped me a little."

"Sorry. We're busy trying to make sure no one associates us with you," Duncan commented. He kicked his foot in an effort to look cool. "You never said that I needed to personally hand them out. Think of me as offering emotional support."

Noah shrugged his shoulders without taking his eyes off his book. "What he said."

"Why are you even here?" Duncan asked, turning to look down at Noah. "I mean, I would have totally come up with an excuse and skipped out if my ass was not on the line."

"I'm here so that I can remind her how terribly this went if she suggests it again."

"Smart," Duncan said nodding his head.

"You know I can hear you two right?" Courtney reminded them, as she placed her free hand on her hip and stared at them. "This wouldn't be so bad if you two actually grew a pair and did something worthwhile with your lives for once." Her attention turned back to handing out flyers when a new set of incoming students approached.

"Forcing uninformative flyers with pictures of cats into people's hands is not what I would call a something worthwhile," Noah said.

"Ah shit," Duncan commented. He turned his head away. Approaching the entrance, Geoff and DJ were joking with each other. Geoff wore his football team letterman jacket and a cowboy hat. His aviator sunglasses were tinted to go with his long blonde hair. DJ was noticeably taller than Geoff with big broad shoulders and large biceps. He wore the same green blazer with the school crest as Courtney as well as a white beanie on his head. DJ was the first to notice Duncan.

"Hey! What's happening thug?" DJ patted Duncan's shoulder, taking special care not to step on Noah. Noah scuttled away slightly to give some space, staying focused on his book without acknowledging DJ.

"Hey man," Duncan greeted. "Not a lot. Just chilling. And um. Checking out a potential buyer, you know how it is." Duncan subtly kicked Noah. Reluctantly Noah looked up at him. "Dimebag'll cost you ten." Duncan informed Noah as if finishing a conversation. Duncan turned his attention back to his compatriots. "What's up with you guys?"

"Right on. We're cool. Heard they threw the book at you brah," Geoff spoke as he and Duncan exchanged an fistbump.

Duncan shook his head. "You guys have no idea. Detention's not even the worst of it." Looking past them, Duncan saw Courtney was still in earshot. "But I'll tell you guys about it later. I've got to finish making this transaction."

"For sure man, don't want to interfere with business. In the meantime, don't go setting anymore lawns on fire." DJ said.

"Or at least videotape it this time bro so we can see the damage." Geoff said with a laugh.

Once Geoff and DJ had entered the brick building Duncan let out a loud sound of relief. "God dammit that was close."

"Yeah, they might have discovered you were forced against your will to join a school club filled with a bunch of losers. I can only imagine the horrible damage it would cause if people found out," Noah spoke with dry sarcasm, not looking up from his book.

Courtney walked over to the two boys. "What was that about?"

"Nothing." Duncan said to her.

"Excuse me? May I have a flyer?" A faint voice asked from behind Courtney.

"Absolutely!" Courtney called out having the flyer outstretched before she had even finished turning around. The flyer was snatched out of Courtney's hand before she even had a chance to see who it was. And once she did, she tensed up greatly.

"Well, well, well. Let's see what we have here." Heather said as she examined the flyer in her grasp. She wore a white blazer. Her black hair was tied back in a ponytail. Next to her, Alejandro stood in a matching blazer. His shirt underneath was mostly unbuttoned. "The Student Advocacy Club?" Heather read aloud from the flyer. "Is that what you are doing now?"

"Yes it is." Courtney huffed. She tried to snatch the flyer from Heather's hand, but Heather pulled it away in time.

Heather handed the flyer to Alejandro. "And what does the Student Advocacy Club do exactly?"

"We help students." Courtney replied flatly.

Heather burst out laughing. It caught the attention of all the students passing by. Courtney just stood there and said nothing. "You helping people? That's the craziest thing I've heard all day." Heather blurted out while still laughing loudly. Courtney just stared down at the ground. Noah and Duncan shared a glance, not knowing what to do.

Alejandro reached over and put a hand on Heather's shoulder. "That's enough Heather."

After a few seconds Heather began to recompose herself. "Well good luck with your little club. And if it's run anything like your class president campaign, you're going to need all the luck you can get. Come on Alejandro, we have actually important student council matters to deal with." With that Heather slowly walked away but not before whacking the stack of flyers out of Courtney's hand and scattering them all over the ground. Alejandro followed behind her as they entered the building.

Courtney took a deep breath, as she remained standing in the same spot.

"What the hell Courtney?" Duncan called out walking up to her. "Why did you just stand there? You just let her walk all over you!"

"What do you care?" Courtney fired back. "We're worse than detention right? That's what you told your friends wasn't it? If you don't want to be here then just go! I'm not forcing you anymore." Duncan stared at her for a second. "I said go!"

Duncan sighed. "Fine." He turned and walked away towards the smoke spot.

After watching him leave, Courtney ran her hands through her hair wildly for a moment, messing it up. She examined her surroundings, all the flyers all over the ground. She leaned down to pick up the flyers, combining them in her arms.

Noah watched her silently. He closed his book, got to his feet and began to pick up the flyers closest to him.

"You can go ahead and say it." Courtney muttered as she got down onto her knees.

"No I won't" Noah replied. "But it is still a dumb flyer."

"I know."

Duncan crossed the field towards the sports building. He walked around to the back next to the loading dock. Trent and Gwen were already standing there, Trent had his arm around Gwen's shoulders. Duncan did not even acknowledge them as he plopped his back against the back wall and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"Where have you been?" Gwen asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." Duncan placed a cigarette between his lips and lit the tip. He took a long drag. He scratched his forehead with his thumb, silently cursing to himself. Gwen and Trent shared a look but said nothing.

"Hey guys." Zoey greeted as she walked up to them. She had on a red cardigan that matched her bright red hair.

"Zoey!" Gwen called out as the two exchanged a hug. "How is it going?"

Zoey let out a long sigh. "Not good. Can I bum a smoke?"

Gwen's smile faded. "Sure." She turned to Trent, who tossed her a pack. She handed it Zoey. "Something up? I thought you quit."

"I did," Zoey said. "I just, I," she paused for a moment. She placed a cigarette in her mouth, and Gwen lit it with a lighter. Zoey inhaled slowly, before exhaling in a single long breath. "It's Mike."

"Figures," Trent added from a distance. Gwen shot him an impatient look, before refocusing on Zoey.

"What's up with Mike?" Gwen asked.

"He's just, you know, going through one of his moods," Zoey tried to explain. Her shoulders jutted out in a defensive pose. Gwen took a step back.

"What do you mean?" Duncan asked. He moved from his spot, walking up to them.

"Mike has a special sensitivity to the emptiness of life," Zoey tried to explain. "Every once in a while, he decides the whole world's meaningless, so he shuts himself into his room. All he does is read Nietzsche and ask that people call him Mal."

"What she means," Trent interjected, "is that he turns into an emo freak." Gwen elbowed Trent in the chest. He reeled slightly.

"That sucks," Duncan commented.

Zoey shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind it, usually. He's such a nice guy the rest of the time, I can deal with a bit of existential dread. To be honest, I find it kind of cool at times. You know, like he really cares about being alive enough that sometimes it's too much." Duncan had no response to this. "Anyways, what's bugging me now is the timing. I'm playing at the talent show this weekend. The whole reason I agreed to perform was because Mike convinced me. Now he's saying that there's no point in coming because there's no point in anything. What am I supposed to do? I can't back out now."

Gwen patted Zoey on the shoulder. "They'd probably be alright with you canceling."

Zoey shook her head. "But I don't want to cancel! I want to play for Mike. I just wish Mike would stop being Mal. I know I could do it with his support. If only there was someone who could help me."

Duncan's head perked up at her words but he then quickly shook if off and took a long drag from his cigarette.

"What about the school counselor? I think Mike could use some counseling." Trent suggested.

Zoey sighed. "No, I don't think it's a big enough deal to get the administration involved. Who knows what they'd do. And Mike would probably hate me forever if I did and I don't want that. I just wish there was some kind of student group or organization that I could turn to."

Once again Duncan's head snapped up and he began to stare at her. He then looked back at the main building of the school where he had come from.

"Well, you won't get anything like that with Heather in charge of the Student Council." Gwen said. "Heather's the biggest bitch ever. I still can't believe what she did to that girl who ran against her last year."

Zoey looked over the cigarette in her fingers. Her eyes drained of enjoyment. She dropped the cigarette onto the ground. "Thanks for talking to me guys. I really appreciate it." With that she turned and slowly began to walk away staring down at the ground.

"I feel bad." Gwen admitted to the others. "I really wish someone could help her."

Duncan peered over at Gwen with longing eyes that she never seemed to notice. He looked down at his hand, and clenched it into a fist. "God damn it." He cursed to himself. Duncan tossed his cigarette and ran after Zoey. "Zoey!" Duncan called out to her as he approached. Zoey turned around, a bit surprised to see Duncan. "You need help?" Duncan asked.

"Yeah. I do." Zoey accepted.

"I can't believe I'm fucking doing this, but," he looked Zoey straight in the eyes. "I think I know someone who might be who you're looking for. Have you ever heard of the Student Advocacy Club?"

 _Afterword:_

 _And just like that, the Student Advocacy Club has their first client. Let us know how you're enjoying the story._

 _Please leave a review._

 _Till Next Time -Nyhlus and BJ_


	4. Last Chance, New Beginnings: Part 4

**Chapter 4**

Zoey sat in the middle of the couch in the Student Advocacy Club room. She rested her hands on her lap holding onto a coffee mug with hot green tea in it. Directly across from her sat Courtney on a chair facing the couch. Courtney held a small notebook and a pen in her hands. Behind Courtney, Duncan and Noah sat at the table in the middle of the room watching them.

"Alright." Courtney spoke flipping through her notes. "Let's make sure I got everything in the simplest of terms. You are to perform tomorrow night at the school's seasonal talent show. You want your friend Mike to come to the show. But he's taken on a dark and miserable persona named Mal which you feel will prevent him from coming. And you want us to convince him out of it and make sure he's there to see your performance."

Zoey listened intently to Courtney. Zoey blew on her tea, taking a sip before responding. "I guess that's it, yeah."

Courtney flipped back through her notes a second time. "Couple quick questions. Do you know what sparked him becoming depressed?"

"I don't know. Last time it was after watching some Swedish art film? About a knight and chess?"

"The Seventh Seal," Noah said, nodding his head. "That'll do it."

"Okay. I'll make a note. Potentially sparked by things Noah likes." Courtney scribbled a little bit into her notebook. "Now you called him a friend but we are talking like a friend, or a _friend_ friend? I'm sensing there might be something between you two."

Zoey's face turned red and she turned away. "No! I mean, I don't think so. Not that I don't want that." Zoey took a second to recompose herself. "Okay, I really like him but there isn't anything between us, not right now."

"Okay." Courtney muttered writing a final note. Courtney stood up. "I think we got everything. You can count on us. You don't have to worry about Mike, we will deal with him. He'll be there at your performance, we guarantee it! We have a one hundred percent success rate."

Zoey stood up as well, placing the mug on the nearby cabinet. "Thank you so much. I'm just really concerned about him."

"We understand, leave it to us. You don't have to be concerned anymore." Courtney reassured her. She then led Zoey to the door. Zoey gave an appreciative bow before exiting the room. Courtney closed the door behind her.

Courtney joined the other two taking a seat at the table. "What the hell Courtney?" Noah asked. "Did you really have to lie to her?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"One hundred percent success rate? We haven't done this before." Noah spoke angrily to her.

"So? I wasn't lying. We have zero failures so that means we have a perfect success rate."

"No, not doing this before means we have a zero percent success rate."

Courtney shrugged her shoulders dismissively. Instead, she focused on her notebook, excitedly tapping her pen on a page. "This is so cool. We finally have our first client. All that hard work's finally paid off. I knew getting a third member was a good idea. Duncan's already helped the club." She smiled at Duncan across the table. Duncan turned away embarrassed in her gaze.

"Don't celebrate too quickly," Noah commented. "How are we even going to help this girl? We don't know the first thing about actually helping someone."

"Please. How hard can it be?" Courtney asked. No one replied. Courtney thumbed through her notes. "We'll have to get started on this right away if we have any hope of fixing it by tomorrow. Zoey suggested he might be in one of the art rooms around now. Perhaps we should check there first?"

"Where's the art rooms?" Duncan asked.

"A floor below us," Noah answered.

"Great. Let's get going." Courtney shot up from her chair. She moved to the door and opened it. Neither Noah or Duncan stirred. She turned back to them and crossed her arms. "Come on boys. We have a job to do. We can't back out of it now."

"I never agreed to this," Noah said clearly.

"Noah. You started this club. Your whole reputation is on the line."

"I don't give a shit about my reputation."

"Just come damnit," Courtney ordered. Her eyes narrowed at him. She pointed exaggeratedly towards Duncan. "And you don't have a say in it. Come. Now."

Duncan raised his hands in the air. "Fine. Whatever." He stood up from his seat and joined Courtney by the door. Noah rolled his eyes at them and let out a sigh, but he joined them as well. The three of them headed out of their club room and made their way down the stairs.

The art club was one of the larger student groups on campus. They laid claim to many of the rooms on the second floor of the club building. Many had been converted into studios for students to paint or sculpt in. These rooms had a window in the door, so students could check whether the room was occupied. It also served as a way to ensure the rooms were not being used for more nefarious or private purposes.

Courtney lead them through the hallway, peering into each window, hoping to find Mike. The first room had a number of freshmen kids talking casually around a table. In the next, a handful of kids struggled to form clay into a simple vase.

"Do you actually know what Mike looks like?" Noah asked.

Courtney shook her head. "I'm sure we'll know when we see him." The next room had a life model posing before a half dozen easels desperately scetching the pose. "How does the art club have so much resourses?" She wondered aloud. Then, she peered into the next room and stopped in place. "Here we go. I think this is him." She motioned the others to join her watching through the door.

Noah and Duncan moved to her sides and looked over her shoulder. Inside, a single figure sat on a stool in the middle of the room. He had jet black hair parted to one side. Before him, there was a canvas on an easel that had been painted completely black. The figure sat still, staring at the painting in silence.

"Yeah. That's him," Noah agreed.

"Shit. He really is an emo freak," Duncan commented.

"Alright. You dragged us here," Noah said to Courtney. "What's your plan now miss president?"

"Well," Courtney said, thinking for a moment. "I guess we'll talk to him for a minute, tell him about what Zoey told us, and convince him to come out to the performance."

"Right," Noah commented. "That's not going to work."

"Do you propose a better idea?"

Noah shook his head. "No way am I helping with this."

"Fine. We'll just do my idea then." Courtney said as she quietly opened the door and the three stepped into the room. Mike remained focused on the black painting. "Hey, Mike." Courtney greeted. Mike continued to ignore them. They moved forward till they were right next to him.

"What are you doing?" Duncan asked him.

Mike remained silent for a couple seconds before finally answering, "I'm looking into the painting."

"Yeah?" Courtney turned and looked at the painting. "And what do you see?"

"The empty void. The space before birth and the silence after death. The truth that we are denied by lies of childhood wonder and joy. The revelation after waking up to see the world for what it truly is: a lost ship beaten down by the waters of isolation, gasping for some breath of meaning, as if it will save us. It's the knowledge that we only exist for a brief glimpse of a moment, desperately trying to connect with those around us, wasting our limited time, only to discover in that final fleeting moment before we die that there is no meaning. There is nothing. There is only black. Emptiness. Pure complete emptiness." Mike spoke in a low and brooding tone.

The three all stared at each other for a second until Courtney turned back to Mike. "You know. I can totally see it too. Hey listen, you know your friend Zoey right?"

"Who?" Mike asked.

"Zoey. Red hair? You know ... Zoey." Courtney tried to explain poorly.

"Right. Her. I try not to pay attention to fleeting shadows." Mike continued to stare at the painting as he spoke. "Everyone's just a collection of randomly colliding atoms. There's no true you. There's no true me. If you looked deeper, then there's no truth. Personhood is a lie."

"Uh, sure, well, she wants you to attend her musical performance tomorrow night at the talent show. Do you think you could attend?"

"No," Mike said clearly. "I have a quantitatively limited amount of seconds and minutes to live. I will not waste it for an illusion, a distraction that will waste time that I will never experience again."

Courtney stepped back for a moment. "Okay... are you sure?"

"Yes," Mike said.

"Come on Mike. Zoey likes you, as a friend at least. Shouldn't you try to be nice to her?"

"Why should I be nice? Those sorts of emotions are lies that trick mindless zombies like you into complacency. So long as they ask nicely, then you'll break your back letting those with more power exploit you. I refuse to accept the dominant hegemony telling me what to do. You might follow along blindly like dumb mice, but I have seen the maze, and I will not follow the line anymore," Mike said clearly.

"I'll show you who's a dumb mouse you little shit!" Courtney yelled out. She leapt forward towards Mike, only to be caught by Duncan and Noah holding her arms back. "You fucking emo fuck! I'll rip your arms off! This was our first client. We are not going to fail. You'll come to the talent show whether you like it or not!"

Mike shook his head. "Typical docile barbarism. Attack the prophet speaking truth against the dominant paradigm. You are chained in Plato's cave, stuck watching shadows. I will be a martyr for knowledge." He turned back towards the black painting.

"Courtney calm down!" Duncan hollered as he and Noah carried her to the far end of the room.

"Yeah," Noah agreed. "No reason to get upset. His musings are elementary at best. It's like he's only read the spark notes on philosophy. Plato's cave? Nietzsche's horse is a much better analogy."

Courtney pulled herself free from the two guys and took a deep breath. "Noah you are not helping."

"Don't worry." Duncan said. "I've got a foolproof plan." He moved away from those two and back up to Mike. He placed his arm over Mike's shoulder, and spoke in hush tones to him. "Hey Mike. I see you're getting into all this deep shit. It just so happens that I have a little tool that can help." Duncan reached into the pocket of his jeans and took out a small baggie. "For a one time special, I'll give you a gram for free. All you need to do is attend Zoey's performance. Afterwards, this special substance can help you get as deep and edgy as you want. When you run out, hit me up and I'll make sure you get a fair price."

"No."

Duncan turned and walked back to Courtney and Noah. "Well, I'm out of ideas."

 _Afterword:_

 _That was a fun chapter. This is a fun story. I know Mike/Mal is more emo than evil and what not, but he's more fun to write this way so sue us._

 _Please leave us a review._

 _Till Next Time -Nyhlus and BJ_


	5. Last Chance, New Beginnings: Part 5

**Chapter 5**

Courtney, Duncan, and Noah sat around the table in the club room. An orange hue filled the room from the setting sun's rays coming in through the window. Courtney's head was down on the table. Duncan leaned back in his chair staring up at the ceiling, his feet up. Noah sat reading War and Peace.

"I can't believe we're going to fail our first task." Courtney said, not taking her head off the table.

"Don't give up hope. We've still got-," Duncan paused and looked at his watch. "Three hours until Zoey's performance. Yeah, we're fucked."

"Can't say I didn't warn you." Noah said.

Courtney raised her head and glared at Noah. "You can't talk. This is all your fault! We've tried everything: offering him free books with long moody sounding names, sitting with him during both breakfast and lunch, and letting him read us some of his godawful poetry. Nothing. Hell, I even forced myself to watch half of Sweeney Todd just to try and get in his head." Courtney shuddered at the thought. "And through all that, you did nothing. You offered no ideas or help with anything. Even Duncan helped. If your mission was to sabotage us then bravo. Great job."

Noah shrugged. "I'm not trying to sabotage you. I'm just letting you realize how stupid and pointless this is."

"Really?" Duncan asked. "Cause I thought you were letting us realize how big of a condescending asshole you are, because you have been doing a fantastic job at that."

"What do you care Duncan? You're even less invested in this than I am." Noah countered.

"I don't give a fuck about this club. But I agreed to help Zoey, so that's what I am doing. Though I'm starting to regret offering her help if this will be the outcome." Duncan said.

"Why are you being so selfish about this Noah? I didn't bring Duncan in to replace you. We're supposed to be a team. This is not working because we're supposed to be working together. We need three minds not two. Come on Noah! This club was your idea."

"No. My idea was to get away with having a room to myself and do nothing all day, all while being a member of a club that would look good on my college application. And I want to keep it that way. I picked the name at random from the old yearbook. Who gives a shit about student advocacy or whatever? This could be the beekeepers club for all I care." Noah looked up from his book, and turned towards Courtney. "And you're the one acting selfish. The only reason you're doing this is to make a name for yourself on campus after fucking up your student council presidential campaign."

Courtney stood up from her spot, kicking back her chair. "You think that's what this is? You think I want to turn your stupid club into a replacement for the student council? Well you're wrong!" Her hands folded into fists. She took a deep breath and then began to speak in a soft tone. "I'm here because of that campaign, but not in the way you're thinking. After suffering through everything at Heather's expense, I just felt like." She paused. "I wished there was someone there. Someone I could have went to help me. I needed support but there wasn't anything. So not long after it ended, I decided I wanted to become that person and help others. When I discovered this club I thought it was perfect." She stared across the table at Noah. "Because I know you Noah. I know you are a good person capable of great things, you just never apply yourself."

Noah did not say anything. He just closed his book and placed it on the table.

Courtney grabbed her chair and sat back down. "It's not about us anymore. It's about Zoey. Even if you think it was stupid to agree to help her, we're here. We've committed. All she wants is the boy she likes to see her perform. We have to give her that. I heard her this morning practicing as I left the dorms. I even recorded a little of it. She sounds so distraught and blue. I can't help but feel bad for her."

At Courtney's words, Noah's head popped up.

"What was that?" Duncan asked pointing at Noah's head. "You just moved funny. If you just came up with an idea you better tell us about it or I am going to kick your ass."

Noah sunk in his chair a little, looking unsure as to whether to speak or not.

"Come on Noah, you can't hide away in here forever. Just do it for her." Courtney pleaded.

Noah tossed his book across the room. "Fine," he said. He rubbed his eyes anxiously. "Look. The reason you've both done a fantastically poor job so far is because you've failed to appeal to his current feelings. All you've done is remind him about everything he's already been rejecting. What we need to do is appeal to his current state of mind: make him understand on his terms."

"How do you expect to do that?" Duncan asked.

"Send me that recording," Noah said.

Courtney's eyes went wide. "I get it! The only way to appeal to an emo is through shitty depressing art. How did we not think of this sooner?"

"Well Duncan's an idiot and you're too perky and upbeat to ever understand someone in a dark and lonely place, no matter how much Tim Burton you've seen." Noah stood up from his chair. "Duncan and I will find him. You make sure Zoey goes through with that performance."

"Right," Courtney nodded confidently. She took out her phone. "Here, I'm sending it to you now." Noah's phone beeped. "Okay. I'll make sure Zoey's going to go on that stage. You two need to make sure that Mike actually shows up."

"Easy. Go," Noah said.

Courtney headed to the door. She took a step out of the room before turning back to them for a second. "No matter how this goes, if you actually try, then thanks Noah." She turned towards Duncan. "And Duncan, thanks for everything you've done. I know this has not been an ideal situation, but I hope you've appreciated something." She took a deep breath, before heading how the hall of the clubs building.

Duncan and Noah sat in the room alone. Duncan turned to Noah. "So, how do you expect to find Mike? He could be anywhere on campus."

"When your and Courtney's last attempt at convincing him failed, he was headed towards the dorms. I bet he's still there. That's where we should try first," Noah spoke.

"How are we going to find him in the dorms? He could be anywhere in the building."

Noah folded his arms across his chest. "Duncan. He lives on our floor. He's literally just down the hall from you. You seriously don't know that?"

"Is that right?" Duncan said to himself. He thought for a moment, before shrugging.

"Come on, let's go." Noah said as he rolled his eyes. Noah stood up, Duncan followed suit and the two teens left the clubroom and headed out the building. They traveled across the school's lawn at a brisk pace. The sun had just set and lights were beginning to turn on illuminating their path.

"So what's your plan?" Duncan asked.

"We go in, you subdue him and then I play the recording. Sound good?"

Duncan cracked his knuckles. "Sounds like a plan I can get behind." It did not take long for them to reach the boys dorm building. The boys dorm, which stood directly next to the identical girls dorm, was built with red brick like most buildings on campus. A number of boys were beginning to head out towards the talent show. Duncan and Noah pushed past them, with Duncan in the lead. They climbed the stairs up to their floor, at which point Duncan paused, recognizing that he did not know Mike's room number. Noah rolled his eyes and headed down the hallway. Duncan followed closely. Noah paused at a door with a six foot tall poster of Nietzsche pasted on it. 'God is Dead!' was written on a piece of paper tapped over the door's room number.

"Huh," Duncan commented. "How did I miss this?"

Noah pointed a couple doors down. "Duncan. You live over there. You pass by this every day."

"Life's sure a mystery sometimes," Duncan said. "How are we getting in?"

"Simple. We walk right in." Noah said. He grabbed the door handle and lightly turned It. With a little push the door opened slightly. "Unlocked. Perfect. Would you like to do the honors?"

"Shit yeah!" Duncan yelled. He took a step back, before lifting his foot up and slamming it into the door. It burst open easily. They both entered the room with confidence. The dorm was small, with a single bed, dresser and desk. The dresser was covered in stacks of books. Sartre's Existentialism is a Humanism sat next to Heidegger's Being and Time. 'WE ARE OUR CHOICES' was spelled out on the wall with electrical tape.

Mike laid on his bed with large headphones over his ears. Noticing the door being kicked open, he sat up abruptly. Pulling down his headphones, a Bright Eyes song could be heard playing. "What the fuck?" He said in surprise.

"Duncan," Noah ordered, referring to the second point of the plan. Duncan nodded knowingly and grabbed Mike's shoulders, pinning him back against the wall. Noah nonchalantly closed the door to the room, hoping not to draw attention.

"What do you guys want?" Mike asked.

"You know what we want," Noah said. "You know damned well what we want. Since you've been so difficult, we've had to turn to more drastic measures."

"Try your worst. You can't hurt me. Pain is only a reminder of this meaningless experience. It's no different than the other illusions of emotions," Mike said.

"First, I don't think you'd last two seconds if we actually wanted to hurt you," Noah clarified. "But, that's not the kind of drastic measure I was referring to." He walked over to Mike's ipod and unplugged it from Mike's headphones. He connected them instead to Noah's phone. Duncan adjusted them back over Mike's ears. "This is what I meant." Noah pressed play on the recording of Zoe.

Mike was silent listening to Zoey sing.

Noah grabbed Mike's shoulders. He raised his voice, so that it could be heard over the music. "You keep saying this world is an illusion, but who gives a shit if it is? You're an illusion. We're illusions. But, what matters is what you do with these illusions. You say the world is meaningless, but how could it be? It's filled with meaning. You just need to recognize it. Words have meaning. Art has meaning. Can't you see? Zoey is singing to you. She's telling you that it's okay to be illusions, so long as you are illusions together. There's life at your fingertips. You just need to grab it. She's the secret to your world, you're just too fucking blind to see it!"

Mike took off the headphones. He was wide eyed and silent for a moment. Duncan gave Noah a worried look, but Noah continued to stare straight ahead at Mike. Finally, Mike's face firmed up. He matched Noah's gaze.

"You're right. Let's go."

 _Afterword:_

 _Thank you for reading. We hope you've been enjoying this story._

 _Please leave a review._

 _Till Next Time -Nyhlus and BJ._


	6. Last Chance, New Beginnings: Part 6

**Chapter 6:**

"Are you sure he's going to come?" Zoey asked. She sat backstage of the talent show. Her red hair was tied back with a black ribbon. She gripped her acoustic guitar, resting it in her lap. The act before her played a poor cover of a Nirvana song. The crowd of students watched silently, many coughing in annoyance. Courtney stood next to Zoey. She paced anxiously, checking her watch every couple of seconds.

"Don't worry. He'll be here. Duncan and Noah are on it. We gave you the Student Advocacy Club guarantee, right? Our 100% success rate depends on it." Courtney spoke, trying to sound reassuring. She checked her watch again, and then peered out around the curtains into the crowd. She could not spot Duncan, Noah or Mike anywhere.

Cameron walked up to them with a clipboard in hand. He was short with large glasses. He wore all black as a stage hand with an earpiece. "Five minute warning. You're up next. How are you feeling?"

"Could be better. I don't know if I can do this!" Zoey said in a bout of panic.

Cameron placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You're going to be fine Zoey. You're one of the best performers here. And, don't worry about Mike, you know how he is, he can be eccentric at times and sort of a downer, but he has a good heart. Try to relax."

"Thanks Cameron." Zoey said.

Cameron turned to Courtney, "You should go take your seat. I'll take it from here."

"No. I'll stay," Courtney tried to argue, but she stole a glance at Zoey looking solemn, and recognized she was no help here. "Okay. I'll be on the side if you need me. Mike'll be here. I trust Noah and Duncan completely."

She headed off the stage. There were a couple empty seats by the right aisle. After standing for a moment, she sat down and let out sigh. Quietly, she whispered under her breath: "please let this succeed. I want to succeed this time."

The poor Nirvana cover finished. The performer gave a slight bow to a meager applauze, more out of politeness than enthusiasm, before walking off the stage. Zoey stepped out tepidly, covering her eyes from the spotlight. She held tightly onto the neck of her guitar. The crowd had begun to stir, using the brief silence for an opportunity to talk. She sat down at the chair before the microphone and adjusted it to her height.

Noah and Duncan slipped in through the back door. Noah scanned the crowd, before pointing out Courtney. They headed down the right side and took the empty seats next to her. Courtney lit up as she saw them.

"She hasn't started to play yet?" Duncan asked. Courtney nodded. "Good. We made it in time."

"Yeah. Good," Noah agreed, only half heartedly.

"But where's Mike?" Courtney asked.

"Wasn't he backstage? He ran ahead of us on the way here," Duncan asked in confusion.

"No. He wasn't."

"Shit. Where could he be?"

Zoey adjusted the guitar in her lap and strummed a note or two. The crowd fell into a hush, their attention now focused on her. Zoey could barely smile, as she looked out around the room, not being able to see Mike anywhere. She finally took a deep breath, and played the first few chords of her song.

Then, the back doors to the auditorium burst open.

"ZOOOOOOEEEEYYYY!" Mike shouted at the top of his lungs. Zoey stopped. The entire auditorium turned to see Mike, no longer wearing all black, his hair slicked up, stand with his arms extended. He began to rush towards the stage, instead of using an aisle, he climbed over chairs, pushing over people. "ZOOEEYY!" He continued to yell.

"What is he doing?" Courtney asked in disbelief.

"I... don't know," Noah answered.

Duncan slipped down in his chair, trying to make himself look inconspicuous and irrelevant, like he had nothing to do with the scene playing out.

"Mike?" Zoey asked, standing up from her seat.

"ZOOOEYY!" Mike yelled, continuing to shout with all his might.

Zoey's face lit up. "MIKE!" She yelled back.

Mike reached the stage and climbed up. He stood a few feet away from Zoey. "Zoey," He spoke softly. "I want to-" Mike paused as Cameron tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Mike turned to see Cameron outstretch a microphone. Mike nodded, he grabbed the microphone and turned back to Zoey and began to talk into it.

"I want to apologize Zoey. I am sorry about how I treated you. I'm sorry about everything. I was blinded by the great meaninglessness of our lives, but that does not matter. I failed to notice how much I mean to you, how much you mean to me, and that's all the meaning I need."

"Aw," Zoey replied, glowing.

Noah turned to Courtney: "he totally stole my line." Courtney waved at him to be silent.

"Not only that," Mike began, his voice cracking with emotion. "I realized something. This crazy experience has shown me something. I've been lying to myself trying to just be your friend. You are so much more than that. I like you. A lot. If you'll have me, can I be your boyfriend?"

"Yes!" Zoey said excitedly. They embraced on the stage. Part of the crowd clapped while others talked with each other about the scene unfolding.

Mike shifted his attention away from Zoey and towards the crowd. He stepped onto the front of the stage, ready to address everyone. "I want to apologize to all of you as well. This night was almost a failure because of my attitude. If I had not seen the light, then you would have never heard the true Zoey. This was not accomplished alone. I had help. Zoey and I had help!" He motioned for Cameron to return to his side and they whispered between each other.

"What the fuck is he doing?" Duncan asked.

"I think he's thanking us," Courtney observed with a tinge of confusion.

Noah shuffled in his seat. "Let's hope he doesn't. I'm getting out of here." He stood up and moved towards the aisle. Duncan followed suite. They'd just gotten into the aisle when the a spotlight was suddenly turned onto them. They both froze under the light.

"There they are!" Mike continued. "I had help from the best student club in the school: the Student Advocacy Club. This is all thanks to the efforts of Courtney, Noah, and Duncan. Let's all give them a round of applause.

The crowd was silent for a moment, failing to comprehend what was going on, before bursting into applause, mostly out of a sense of obligation. Courtney, glowing, stood up from her seat, and waved at those who were clapping. Noah and Duncan however, frozen like deer in headlights, stood completely still.

"Oh god no, this is not happening," Duncan said under his breath.

"This is a nightmare," Noah added.

…

Chris shifted through pieces of paper on his desk. "So, I heard you and your friends caused quite a scene."

"Look," Duncan said, stirring in his seat. He tapped his right foot in annoyance. Chris' office felt as small as ever. "Let's getting something clear. They're not my friends. You're the one forcing me into this. And that 'scene' just cost me like all of my cool. Do you know what people are saying to me? They're asking if I'm a member of the Love Club on campus. How fucking uncool is that?"

"Well, thankfully, losing your cool does not break any of the school rules. Which, for you Duncan, is a bit of a miracle. You're really turning over a new leaf."

"So, does this mean I no longer need to be a part of this club?"

Chris let out a relaxed laugh. "No way. This is the first positive thing you've been apart of since coming to this school. I'll not about to let you walk away from it now when this is only the beginning."

Duncan pressed his thumbs against his temples. "What if I just threaten to bomb the school and get expelled? Anything is better than being associated with those losers."

"Yeah, because trying to help people on campus is such a terrible burden." Chris said sarcastically. "Empty threats won't work on me Duncan. I'm surprised you're so reluctant to continue with this club. From what I hear, you're the one who offered to help Zoey in the first place."

"I was fine with it until everyone in the school started calling me fucking Cupid after what happened at the talent show." Duncan then eyed Chris, "Wait, how do you know I was the one who offered to help Zoey."

"Oh, Courtney already came in and boasted about the entire escapade to me non stop for like three hours straight when I was supposed to be doing important grading." Chris said with a sigh. "No wonder they call you Cupid."

"That's enough," Duncan shot up from his chair. "Go fuck yourself McLean." He draped his backpack over his shoulder stormed out of the door.

Behind him, he could hear Chris continue, raising his voice as Duncan walked further away. "I can't wait to hear what your club does next! Maybe save some puppies! Or even get Harold a date next time! You're going soft Duncan. Soft!" By the time Duncan arrived at the stairs, Chris had burst into a maniacal laugh.

Duncan only shook his head as he descended down the stairs. "What an asshole." He said to himself. Once he left the administration building he headed straight to the Clubs building. This meeting may have saved him some club time, but he still needed to be present. As he walked across the grounds, he tried to keep his head down, still a little ashamed of the events from before.

He entered the clubs building and hurried up the stairs. He froze when he reached the third floor. There standing directly outside the club room was over a dozen students all lined up.

"There's one!" One of them called out. Duncan's eyes went wide as they rushed over and crowded around him. Their voices all mended together as they all called out their problems. Duncan pushed his way through them and hurried to the door. He was barely able to slip in and close it before the mass of people slammed into it. Duncan pushed back with all his might until he was able to lock the door.

Taking deep breaths Duncan surveyed the club room to see it was empty. "What the fuck."

"I know right." Noah replied. Duncan nearly flinched. He looked around but could not see him until he peaked under the table where Noah was hunched up in a ball. "They've been there all day. I've been hiding, hoping they'd go away. I have to pee so badly."

The sound of people banging at the door echoed through the room. Duncan quickly ducked down and hurried under the table. "What do we do?"

"I don't know." Noah admitted. "My best idea so far is ritual suicide."

The door flung open. Duncan and Noah scurried further back under the table. Courtney stepped in. She called out some instructions to the people outside before closing the door. "Isn't this amazing!" She exclaimed. She paused when she did not see anyone. After quickly surveying the room she ducked her head under the table. "What are you two doing?"

"Hiding?" Noah said.

"Well, that's not going to help at all," Courtney responded, placing her hands on her hips. "Get up. We've got work to do." Noah and Duncan poked their heads up slightly. She moved over to the door and opened it slightly. "Okay. Who's first?"

FIN.

 _Afterword:_

 _This is the end of the first 'story' for Student Advocacy Club. When we first came up with the idea, we wanted every 'case' or 'mission' they work on to be a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. This first story was sort of an origin story, building the world and the character's placement in it. The whole story was sort of an experiment for us, drawing from anime and manga influences. We may not be pleased with everything, but it was still fun to write._

 _We'd really like to know your thoughts on the story. It will help us write better and help us decide whether to continue. Even if we do not, we are pleased with the story and think this provides an ending we can be happy with._

 _Please leave a review._

 _Till Next Time -Nyhlus and BJ._


	7. Dakota The Nerd: Part 1

Part 2:

Chapter 1

Duncan stood at the smoke spot. His shoulders were hunched forward, hands firmly shoved in his leather jackets pockets. His back leaned against the brick wall. He took a long drag of his bogarted cigarette. He brushed his hand through his green mohawk and stared up at the dreary grey sky. He could feel periodic little droplets of rain hitting his leather jacket. His leather jacket's left shoulder was ripped and held together with a safety pin. It made for a cool look, but it did a terrible job keeping the rain out. On either shoulder were patches sewn into the arms, one for the band NOFX and the other for ZERO skateboards.

"So man, I hear your little club's doing well," Trent spoke in a teasing voice. He stood with Gwen a few feet away. His arms were wrapped around Gwen's shoulders, partially blocking out the rain. Her head rested on Trent's chest.

"Not you too man," Duncan muttered. "This whole thing's a nightmare. You know what people have been calling it? The Love Club! They think we're some kind of matchmaking service. Some kid called me _cupid_ in the hall earlier. If I wasn't on my last straw, I would have clocked him right there."

"Stop being so dramatic," Gwen said. "I think it's good you guys are getting some recognition. You really helped Zoey. She's like a completely different person now. I don't think I've ever seen her so happy. You should take some pride in it."

Duncan shook his head. "Pride? I can feel every bit of cool I have slipping through my fingers. I hate this!"

"Do you really care so much about what everyone else thinks of you?" Gwen asked. "I didn't realize you were so fragile. I always thought you didn't care about other's opinions." Duncan took a long drag from his cigarette. He didn't have anything to say in response. Especially not to her.

He exhaled slowly. Everything was such as mess since he joined the Student Advocacy Club. He tossed his cigarette. "Well, speaking of which, I gotta go make an appearance." Stuffing his hands in the front of his leather jacket, he began the walk across the field to the clubs building. He tried to ignore the others as he left. His shoes kicked up mud in the wet grass.

When he entered the hallway before the Student Advocacy Club door, he was happy to see it was empty. He kicked the dirt off his shoes and entered. Noah sat at the table reading a Kurt Vonnegut novel. Joy Division played on the stereo. Courtney stood at the counter turning on the electric kettle.

"Look who finally decided to show his face." Courtney said.

Duncan tossed off his leather jacket onto one of the empty chairs around the table. "I'm here. That's what matters right?"

"What matters is we help our fellow students. Tea?" Courtney asked. The two boys nodded their heads. She started to prepare three mugs.

"God it's depressing outside." Duncan commented as he sat down and tossed his feet up onto the table.

"It's depressing in here." Noah said under his breath, not taking his eyes off his novel.

"It's not depressing. We still have a 100% success rate. How could that be depressing?" Courtney said.

"Because so far, excluding Zoey, basically all we've done is deliver people's love letters because they are too chickenshit to do it themselves. That's not helping people. That's acting as some kind of matchmaker, which is not what I signed up for," Duncan complained.

"You didn't sign up at all," Noah added.

"Right," Duncan agreed, anxiously rubbing his eyes. "Still, I wish we could shake this stupid Love Club label. It's pissing me off."

The kettle dinged. Courtney began pouring the hot water in each of the mugs. "It's just a consequence of our first case being such a success. The bigger our presence is felt on campus the more diverse our cases will become. Who knows, maybe our next case will be something completely different."

There was a knock at the door. The three club members stared at each other. Neither wanted to answer the door. Courtney pointed to the fact that she was still making tea and then pointed for one of the other two to get it. Noah kept looking at his book refusing to budge. Duncan audibly sighed before dropping his feet off the table and walking over to the door. He opened it and saw a girl standing there. She was tall and very slender. She had long blonde hair and wore designer sunglasses. She had a preppy look. Duncan could guess immediately she was quite popular. "Is this the Love Club?" She asked.

Duncan clenched a fist. He opened his mouth to respond when Courtney rushed in front of him. "Yes! Well, we're actually the Student Advocacy Club, but the Love Club is a name that's been attached to us. What can we do for you?"

"I need some help. With a boy."

Duncan rolled his eyes and stepped back into the clubroom. Noah had left his place at the table. He took over making tea for everyone, letting Courtney focus on Dakota. He made sure to grab an additional mug. Duncan sat back down at the table.

"Right this way, sorry what is your name?" Courtney asked.

"Dakota." The visitor responded. Courtney directed Dakota into the room and to take a seat on the sofa. Once Dakota sat down Noah handed Courtney a mug. "Tea?" Courtney offered Dakota. She reached out and grabbed the mug. Noah handed Courtney an additional mug. He took the remaining two mugs placed them on the table, one in front of Duncan and the other opposite him where Noah sat down and turned back to his book.

Courtney pulled out her notebook and sat facing Dakota. "So you need help with a boy. Tell us about him."

"He's really smart. And funny."

"Okay." Courtney took down some quick notes. "Now when you say you need help with him, I'm guessing you want to date him?"

"Yes."

"Does he have a name?"

"Sam."

Noah choked on his tea. He threw down the mug, began to cough, and pound on his chest. Courtney turned around to stare at him. "What's wrong with you?"

Noah shook his head. He took a moment to recuperate before speaking. "It's nothing. Nothing." His voice was raspy. "The image of a Sam I know popped into my head, but, no, can't be him. Must be someone else, another Sam." He focused his attention on Dakota. "What does this Sam happen to look like?"

"Well," Dakota thought for a moment. "He's a bit... round. He has cute curly red hair and glasses."

"Holy shit that is Sam." Noah spoke in disbelief. "How do you even know him?"

"He's my lab partner in science class," Dakota explained.

"And you like him?" Noah asked.

"Well," Dakota stared down at her hands, brushing her fingers along her palms, a little embarrassed by the question. "Yeah, I guess."

"Why?"

Dakota took a second to formulate a response. "When you look as good as I do, and you come from such a wealthy family as I do, you learn to tell when people are genuinely nice to you or just want something from you. Sam's been the most genuinely nice person I've met here. Like it isn't even close. Even though we only spend an hour or two of class time a week he seems more interested in me just as a person than most of the people I consider friends. But we're from such different social spheres. I don't know how to approach him about, you know. This."

"So, you want us to help you, Dakota, get a date with Sam?" Noah tried to clarify.

"Yes."

"We'll take your case." Noah declared.

The other two club members turned to him, surprised that he would voluntarily agree to any case. "So you know this Sam guy?" Courtney asked Noah. "How?"

"He's a big video game nerd. He often hangs out at the library."

"The library? You mean super dork kingdom?" Duncan asked. Noah nodded. "We'll take this case." Duncan agreed.

"Okay." Courtney said, she turned her attention back to Dakota. "I guess we're taking your case. Come back tomorrow after school and we'll give you an update on our progress. Don't worry, we have a 100% guaranteed success rate. We will get you that date."

"Thanks." Dakota stood up and headed out of the club room. Courtney closed the door behind her. She turned to her fellow club members. "What was that? You two seemed awfully egar to accept this one. For the first time ever."

"Because this is going to be the easiest one yet. How can we possibly fail pairing up a dweeb with a super hot chick?" Duncan said.

"I know Sam." Noah spoke. "Not well, because I don't hang out with total losers, but that's the point. Duncan's right. On pure attractiveness Dakota's like a solid 9 and Sam is generous 4. It's exactly like an 80s teen movie, we just need to talk to him and say this highly attractive girl is into him and that should be the end of it."

"Alright. I trust you boys for this one. Where can we find him?"

Noah checked his watch. "Library's still open. That's our best bet." The others nodded. Noah and Courtney grabbed their raincoats. Duncan threw on his Leather Jacket. The library was part of the main building. They walked down the gravel path from the clubs building to the large 5 story brick behemoth. The library was on the third floor right in the middle of the building. The walls were aligned with bookcases. The middle of the library was full of large wooden tables. There was still a few dozen students inside. Some were at the computers, others were playing Magic The Gathering.

"There." Noah pointed at a redheaded guy in the far corner playing an old Gameboy Color. He wore the same black pullover Noah usually wore but without the tie and with shorts instead of pants. "Let me talk to him." Noah said. Courtney and Duncan stayed back.

Noah stepped into the library. He crossed the tables of those playing cards and reached where Sam was sitting. "Hey Sam." Noah said in greeting as he took a seat across from him.

"Oh, ah, hey Noah." Sam spoke looking up from his game. "Haven't seen you in the library in a while."

"I take my books out in the morning." Noah paused, trying to find an excuse. "It's easier that way."

"Cool."

"You know I'm part of the Student Advocacy Club right?"

"Yeah that club that helped Zoey. She was telling me about you guys. You have a reputation around campus as matchmakers."

"Exactly." Noah said. "Now we are both rational individuals. If I come to you with some kind of information, it is in my best interest for it to be correct, because otherwise our reputation as a club would diminish."

"Sure."

"So, what if I told you that Dakota has a crush on you? There's no reason to think I'd be lying to you. More than that, not only does she have a crush on you, she wants to date you. All you have to do is ask her out. I guarantee you she will say yes."

Sam put down his Gameboy. "Really? Dakota?" His face lit up for a moment, but just as quickly his brows narrowed and his mouth tightened. "I don't know," he said, his voice low.

"What's there to know?" Noah interjected. "She's one of the most popular girls in the school. For guys like us, this sort of thing just doesn't happen. You gotta go for it man."

Sam clenched his teeth. "I still don't know. I like Dakota, don't get me wrong. I think she's a really nice person. I just don't know if dating her would be a good idea. We don't have anything in common. It's fine when we're working together in science class, since we're talking about the assignment. But, what are we supposed to talk about otherwise? She doesn't like the kind of stuff I do. We're just very different people with different interests. Let's face it, I'm a total nerd. She's not. I like being her friend but if we were to commit further I just don't see us connecting."

"That is a very rational and mature mindset to have." Noah conceded. He clenched his fist, digging the nails into his skin. "I'll, ah, see you around Sam." Noah got up from his seat and headed back to the other two. "We have a problem."

 _Afterword:_

 _Duncan and the Student Advocacy Club: Help Is On The Way! Is Back Baby! By popular demand. We'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed this story, and thanks to everyone asking us to continue it. We've enjoyed going back to this story and playing with these characters._

 _Just a heads up as to what the structure this story will follow. This story is meant to be episodic, focusing on different cases, with an overarching storyline building over top each of the cases. Each case will be varied number of chapters. We're almost done writing this case and we've already begun working on two more so there will be plenty more SAC to come. Get hyped._

 _Please leave a review._

 _Till Next Time –Nyhlus and BJ._


	8. Dakota The Nerd: Part 2

Chapter 2

"I immediately regret agreeing to help anyone and will henceforth never do it again." Noah declared. His head firmly resting on the table in the club room. Duncan and Courtney sat around the table.

"Always the optimist." Duncan said.

"You are not giving up on us already. You got us in this mess." Courtney said to Noah. "So you're going to help us get out of it." Noah let out a moan and then shifted his head on the table to face away from Courtney.

Duncan leaned back in his chair. "I don't get this Sam guy. If I was a total loser like him I'd do anything to get a date with a hot chick."

"Like set the lawn on fire?" Noah teased. Duncan straightened in his chair. His jaw clenched. "You know there's not that many girls names starting with G right? Gail, Genie, Gina, Gertrude, Gw-," Duncan grabbed Noah by the collar and lifted him off the table.

"If you know what's best for you, I'd suggest you shut the fuck up." Duncan threatened. Noah just shrugged.

"Stop it. Both of you." Courtney said. The two boys separated and retook their seats. "We're supposed to be helping people not fighting each other." Courtney flipped through her notebook. "I understand Sam's worried they would not have anything in common but he's not really giving her a chance, who knows, she might like some nerdy interests." Courtney snapped her finger. "That's it."

"What's it?" Duncan asked.

"We just need to find a nerdy interest that Dakota can show Sam they can bond over." Courtney explained.

"That should be easy. How hard can it be to make her pretend to like video games?" Duncan said.

Noah shook his head. "We can't make her pretend anything. Sam would see right through that. This isn't an 80s teen movie, which I'm now convinced are full of lies. It would have to be something Dakota shows a real interest in."

"Yeah." Courtney agreed. "It needs to be genuine." She peered down at her notebook. "Her main attraction to Sam is how genuine he is. It would be a disservice for us to try and get them to build a relationship based on deceit."

"Okay fine." Duncan said. "Where do we begin?"

Courtney checked her watch. "We've got about an hour until Dakota drops by. Noah, grab all the nerdy things you have or can find. None of us know Dakota, we're going to have to cast a wide net here and see what sticks."

"Are you implying I'm the only nerd here?" Noah questioned Courtney.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm asking you to grab your nerdy things. Who else would you rather I ask? Meathead here?" Courtney asked, pointing at Duncan.

Noah shook his head. "No, not Duncan. Duncan doesn't have a nerdy bone in his body. Maybe with the exception of the boner he has for Henry Rollins."

Duncan nodded his head. "You got that right," he said, deciding to take it as a compliment.

Noah rolled his eyes and refocused on Courtney. "I had someone else in mind."

"You mean me?" Courtney asked incredulously. "I'm not a nerd."

"Please. I know how much you like the Lord of the Rings. That's just one example."

"So? I like the most popular book series of the last century. How does that make me a nerd?"

"Then, like most people who like Lord of the Rings, you'd agree that Gandalf is basically the same as Dumbledore in Harry Potter."

"What? No. Of course not. Who would say that? Gandalf couldn't be more different. Gandalf is a Maiar. He's not some two-bit run of the mill magic user. He's an immortal being who entered Ea at the beginning of time. He's only looks like a wizard because he was sent by the Valar to help contest the evil of Sauron. He's closer to a Balrog or Sauron than anything else."

"That sounded like a lot of gibberish to me," Duncan said.

"You will not insult any of it in my presence," Courtney made clear.

"I think you proved my point," Noah said smugly. Courtney huffed in his direction. "Anyways, if we want to do this, we'll need a set up. Duncan, there's a TV in the AV club's room. We're going to need it, so grab it with whatever force necessary."

"Now you're speaking my language."

...

When Dakota arrived to the club room she found it noticeably changed. A large television on wheels rested in one corner. A pile of DVDs, CDs, Videogames, trading cards, board games, and other junk littered the table. They explained to her the plan. She was hesitant, but ultimately agreed.

"We need you to be completely honest with us. If you don't like something let us know and we'll move on. Don't try to force anything. Now does anything here peak your interest?" Courtney asked her. She fanned her arm in the direction of the things.

Dakota scanned the room. "Not really."

"Noah?"

"Let's start with video games. That's what Sam's really into and it has a broad appeal." Noah suggested.

Duncan reached over and grabbed the deck of cards from the table. "What is this?"

"That is Magic the Gathering. A trading card game. I haven't touched those in years. I had to dig those out from a box under my bed where I had to grab most of this stuff. They're from back when I was a freshman and super lame." Noah said.

"Good thing." Duncan said, putting his arm around Noah. "Cause you're so cool now."

Noah swatted Duncan's arm off of him and turned his attention back to Dakota. "Let's start with some Mario."

They connected an old Super Nintendo into the television and got Dakota to play the first few levels. Her fingers awkwardly wrapped around the controller. She commented how she'd never really held one before. Her reaction time to press the buttons was slow and she continually pressed the wrong one, which meant she died, a lot. Noah tried his best to coach her, but it was hard for her to understand his instructions and most of her problems were on a fundamental mechanical level, so his tips were unhelpful. After nearly twenty minutes, she had not beaten the first level and still had trouble with the first gumba. She started to get frustrated. Noah was frustrated by just how bad she was playing. So, they agreed to move on.

"Let's watch something instead." Courtney suggested.

"Alright," Noah walked over to his pile of DVDs. "I've got Monster movies, Kung Fu movies, Slashers." He shifted through a couple of titles, looking over the backs of the movies. "How about we start with Troll 2. It's a film that's so bad, it's good. It's hard not to like a film like this."

He reached over and put Troll 2 into the DVD player.

They watched a decent chunk of the film. Dakota sat there with a confused look on her face. "I don't get it. What's supposed to be good about this?"

Meanwhile Duncan was on the floor laughing. "Are you kidding me? Did you not see the kid pee all over the food? That was like the funniest thing I have ever seen!" He mustered to say inbetween laughing fits. "And then the reaction from the dad scolding the kid by saying, 'you can't piss on hospitality,'" Duncan burst out in laughter again just thinking of the scene. Dakota eyed him weirdly and shrugged her shoulders. Courtney sensing Dakota was not enjoying it stopped the movie and put the disk back in its case. Duncan then reached over and grabbed out of her hands. "I am so borrowing this. I'm going to get super baked and then watch this tonight."

Courtney crossed her arms. "Why don't I take the lead for a second?"

"Go ahead," Noah said.

Courtney walked over to the cabinet against the left wall. She opened one of the drawers and pulled out three books. She placed them on the table. "Ever hear of the Lord of the Rings?" She asked Dakota.

"Wait," Duncan interrupted. "Have those been there this whole time?"

"Yes," Noah answered.

Courtney shot them a look, before turning her attention back towards Dakota. "Ignore them."

Dakota picked up the books and looked at the covers. "I've heard of them. I watched the movies. They were okay. Sean Astin was really hot in it."

"Out of everyone in that movie you're attracted to Samwise Gamgee?" Noah asked in surprise. "Wait, nevermind, that makes perfect sense."

"Hush," Courtney directed towards him. Noah shrugged and slid down in his seat. She turned back towards Dakota. "Yes. The movies are an acceptable adaptation. They are a good stepping stone to get into the series." She placed her hand firmly on the cover for the Return of the King. "But, it's really in the books where the magic is held. The movies didn't even have Tom Bombadil. I mean, how crazy is that?"

"I don't understand," Dakota spoke.

Courtney continued anyways, not paying much attention to Dakota. "That's not even to mention the butchering of the Hobbit in those movies." She shuddered. "Really, unless you've read the Silmarillion you'll never really-"

"Courtney!" Duncan yelled. "You're killing me with the nerd speak. Can I just continue watching Troll 2?"

"What's going on?" Dakota asked.

"Okay," Noah clapped. "Let's end that there." He grabbed the books from the table. "There's a reason no one likes to talk about these with you," he directed towards Courtney.

They then tried Magic The Gathering but Noah gave up on pretty quickly. He was not about to explain the rules to three people who had never played a trading card game before. They had been at it for a while, Noah's patience was running thin and they still had not found anything that even remotely interested Dakota.

In desperation Noah pulled out his laptop and flipped it open. "Let's try Anime. Let's go with something popular." He pulled up a video file of the first episode of Sword Art Online. They sat there and watched it. After ten minutes Noah paused the video and turned to Dakota. "So? Anything?"

"I dunno. It's weird."

The three club members audibly sighed.

"But I did like the outfits the characters a wearing." Dakota said.

"What?" Noah said. "You like the outfits? The outfits!" Noah pulled at his hair. "It's so obvious I can't believe I never thought of it before just now."

"Thought of what?" Duncan asked.

"Cosplay."

Noah immediately closed the video file and opened his web browser. He proceeded to show Dakota a variety of images of people cosplaying. She said a number of passing comments like "Oh that's really cute." and "That looks fun." Courtney and Duncan stood behind them, they high fived.

"How are we going to get Sam and Dakota to bond over Cosplay?" Courtney asked. "She can't just suddenly start walking around the school in an outfit."

Noah did some quick googling. "There's a convention happening this weekend the next city over." Noah turned to Dakota, "We are going to make you a costume and you're going to run into Sam there."

A smile grew on Dakota's face. "I'm excited!"

"What is she going to dress up as?" Courtney asked.

"Good question. I'm not a big anime fan. Besides a select few quality directors, most of it is utter garbage pandering to pathetic losers without any social skills." Noah said.

"I know just the guy." Duncan declared. He marched right out of the room. He returned a second later. "Where is the anime club's room?"

"Down the hall to the right, five doors down." Noah said.

"Right." Duncan left again. A minute later he returned throwing open the door, and walked in dragging Harold along in a headlock. "Harold here has graciously agreed to help us."

"What are talking about?" Harold called out. "I haven't agreed to anything. Gosh! I was leading a meeting when he stormed in grabbed me and dragged me here." Duncan tightened his headlock. "Okay! Okay! I'll help. Gosh!"

Duncan let go of Harold. He stumbled to his feet. "Sorry about him." Courtney said. "He can be a little forceful at times. Dakota here wants to get into Cosplay. And she needs help picking a character to model after. We were hoping you could provide her with some suggestions."

Harold's eyebrows went up with the mention of cosplay. He glanced over at Dakota. "Yeah, I can do that."

"You have art all over the Anime Club's walls right?" Courtney asked. Harold nodded. "Great, why don't you show Dakota them. See what she thinks. I'll join you there in a minute."

Harold and Dakota stepped out of the room. The three club members regrouped. "How are we going to get her a costume?" Courtney asked. "We don't have enough time to make something like that in a week."

"We'll pick a costume that's simple. Something that's basically a dress. We can find stuff online as well. We'll need to make some alterations, but it shouldn't be too hard."

"One of us needs to know how to sew to make alterations." Courtney said.

"I can." Duncan said. The other two eyed him with a confused look. "What? You think the patches on my jacket just sew themselves? What are we going to do about getting Sam to the convention? If any of us ask him he'd be suspicious for sure."

"We're going to need to recruit others to help us with that. But, don't worry. I already have a idea." Noah said with confidence.

"Wait, we're going to need a sewing machine and thread if we're going to get this done by the weekend." Courtney said.

"Leave that to me." Duncan grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

The other two watched him go. The door closed behind him with a thud. "He's going to steal one from the home ec room isn't he?" Courtney asked.

"He's going to steal one from the home ec room," Noah agreed.

 _Afterword:_

 _We hope you've enjoyed the second chapter of this next part. And as a disclaimer, the opinions of the characters in this chapter don't necessarily reflect those of the writers._

 _Please leave a review._

 _Till Next Time –Nylus and BJ._


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